


5/02/2019: Call Me, Maybe?

by pop_incognito



Series: 365 Drabbles [36]
Category: Free!
Genre: Background Natsunao, First Dates, M/M, fluffy boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 22:37:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17692412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pop_incognito/pseuds/pop_incognito
Summary: Hiyori asks Ikuya out on a date.





	5/02/2019: Call Me, Maybe?

**Author's Note:**

> I don't remember writing this, but here it is ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ hope every one enjoys it!

“Ikuya…” Hiyori trails off, biting his lip nervously. They’re sitting on Ikuya’s bed in his dorm, pressed together side by side from shoulder to hip and hip to thigh, their hands linked in Hiyori’s lap. “Do you.” There’s a faint red blush starting to bloom behind Hiyori’s ears, and Ikuya blinks at him, a little worried that he’s about to hear a breakup speech. Hiyori clears his throat. “Doyouwannagoonadatewithme?” Hiyori finally blurts out.

Eyes wide, Ikuya says, “I’m sorry, what?” and when Hiyori looks like he’s about to chicken out of talking again, Ikuya is quick to add, “I didn’t understand what you said!”

“Oh.” Hiyori rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. “I said, ‘Do you want to go on a date with me?’”

Ikuya frowns a little. “Aren’t we on a date right now?” He’s confused. They ate ice cream and played video games, they made out in the kitchen for a little while, now they’re holding hands and watching a movie on Ikuya’s laptop. Hiyori is staying the night. This is a date, right? “Hiyo?” Ikuya’s only point of reference for ‘dating’ is Natsuya and Nao, and their dates always seemed to consist of Natsuya’s bedroom door being closed followed by loud music playing form inside and… oh. Oh no. A thought just occurred to Ikuya and now he needs brain bleach.

“Whoa, are you okay?!” Hiyori frets, having just witnessed Ikuya’s face cycled through all five stages of grief before settling on a look not unlike the expression one makes after tasting a lemon. “We are on a date right now, I promise.”

Holding a hand up – Ikuya needs a moment to process this new and extremely unfortunate realisation – and taking a deep breath, Ikuya says, “I wasn’t making that face at you, I just realised what Nao and Natsuya used to be doing when they disappeared into Natsuya’s room for hours after school.”

“Oh, baby, you poor thing,” Hiyori says sympathetically, and he puts his arm around Ikuya’s shoulders so that he can pat Ikuya’s hair comfortingly. “And, yes, I guess we are on a date right now, but…” He breaks off, back to being nervous now that Ikuya has finished having his existential crisis over the fact that his older brother has a sex life. “Well, it just occurred to me that I’ve never actually, you know, asked you on a date. We just do stuff and call it a date. So… do you want to go on a date with me?”

Ikuya, who is quite the romantic under his forty thousand iron walls of self-isolation, lingering Haru worship, and obliviousness that rivals that of a shoujo manga protagonist, blushes bright pink and giggles. This causes him to clap both hands over his mouth in embarrassment while Hiyori curses not having a video camera out to record the moment for posterity’s sake. Once Ikuya has regained his composure, though still pink in the cheek, he says, “I’d love to go on a date with you, Hiyori,” and then grants Hiyori one of those super rare, beautiful smiles that light up Hiyori’s entire world and all of that sappy, loving purple prose.

The next day, which is a weekend, Hiyori gets up early even though he and Ikuya usually like to sleep in on their off days and then do naughty things in the shower instead of eating breakfast at a socially acceptable time. He rifles through Ikuya’s wardrobe and then his own overnight bag and compiles two nice-ish outfits that they can wear in public and been seen in by Kisumi without being gently mocked until Makoto goes outside with a fanny pack on again. Then he spends a solid hour on his phone Googling ‘things to do on a date with your social recluse boyfriend’ while studiously taking notes, but that gets him nowhere, so he gives up and calls Nao.

Nao does not appreciate being woken up on a Saturday while Natsuya is back in Japan and keeping Nao up until all hours, and he tells Hiyori as much in his soft, friendly voice, somehow managing to sound both interested in Hiyori’s problem, but vaguely threatening at the same time. “Just take him to that old movie theatre in town, they’re doing a run of old Disney movies all week,” Nao suggests, sounding a little distracted, and Hiyori can hear the low rumble of Natsuya’s voice in the background. “Natsuya, how many times do I have to tell you to keep your hands to yourself while I’m on the phone,” Nao hisses, immediately followed by a choked squeak, and a rather breathy, “I have to go, sorry, Hiyori. Good luck with your date!”

Which leaves Hiyori staring at his phone and feeling faintly violated and far more empathetic for Ikuya’s plight the previous night. “Right. Disney movies.” Hiyori pulls up the old theatre’s website and it’s like all the deities of dating are smiling down on him because there’s a showing of _The Little Mermaid_ starting in exactly two and a half hours. “Perfect!”

After the whole awkward, sitcom-esque rigmarole of actually getting together, Ikuya and Hiyori had somehow ended up having a discussion about their ties to that particular fairy tale, ending with them declaring it ‘their story’.

“What are you doing?” Ikuya’s sleepy voice reaches Hiyori’s ears, and he looks up to see Ikuya huddled in the doorway of his bedroom, wrapped up head-to-toe in the sheets, and peering blearily around the room with his face all sleep-squishy. “I woke up ready for morning cuddles and you weren’t there.”

“Sorry,” Hiyori says, trying not to coo at the adorable sight – Ikuya is liable to bite when he thinks he’s being patronised – and he pats his lap, waiting patiently for Ikuya to shuffle over and flop directly across Hiyori’s legs, head buried in the couch cushion. “I was just getting things organised for today.”

Ikuya makes a curious sound, not unlike a chirping cat. “What’s happening today?”

“I’m taking you on a date, remember?” Hiyori says easily, leaning his elbows on Ikuya’s back as he taps away on his phone to book their tickets to the movies. “I laid some clothes out for us, so go and get dressed. I’m taking you out for lunch.”

Suddenly awake at the thought of both spending the day with Hiyori and also getting free food, Ikuya scrambles back into his room and emerges in the clothes Hiyori had picked out, accessorised with sunglasses, some necklaces, and the little woven bracelet Hiyori had given him on an away-swim meet a few months ago. “Right, where are we going?”

Lunch is great. They act like it’s their real, actual first date, holding hands over the table and blushing and giggling, and Ikuya is having the time of his life. After arguing over who gets to pay the bill – Hiyori wins, but he was going to pay whether Ikuya won or not – Hiyori leads Ikuya down several streets until they’re outside the cinema. “Just wait here for a moment, I have to pick up our tickets,” he says, kissing Ikuya’s cheek. Hiyori returns with popcorn, milkshakes, and a small bag of sugar-coated pistachios. “You have _share_ ,” he tells Ikuya semi-sternly, laughing when Ikuya pokes his tongue out. “Here you go,” and Hiyori hands the ticket over.

“ _The Little Mermaid?_ ” Ikuya asks excitedly, holding the ticket with both hands and staring at it with his eyes all lit up. Chalk one up to Nao for being the best date planner ever. “Come on, come on, let’s go!”

Their date finishes back at Ikuya’s dorm, where Ikuya makes a show of having Hiyori stop on the doorstep and kiss him goodnight. “I had so much fun,” he says happily, wrapping his arms around Hiyori’s waist. “You can definitely call me and take me out on a second date.”

Ikuya’s door flies open suddenly. “But now you have to leave, because it’s after his curfew,” Natsuya says smugly, grinning at Ikuya and Hiyori’s stunned faces.

“Natsuya?!” Ikuya yelps. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I’m so sorry, I tried to stop him,” Nao says, appearing behind Natsuya in the doorway. “I told him that you two were going on your first date in public, and he insisted on making it authentic.”

Ikuya’s face turns brick red, and he flails his arms. “Get out of my apartment!” he scowls, pointing at Natsuya. “Who the hell gave _you_ a key?!”

“Sorry again,” Nao says, hiding his smile behind his hand.

“Nao!” Ikuya whines, in the exact same tone a teenager uses when their mother won’t let them do something that sounds fun, but is actually just dangerous.

Natsuya starts ushering Hiyori away from the door, ignoring Hiyori’s protests about his bag and other belongings still being inside. “Thank you for dropping him off safely, you can run along now. You have Ikuya’s number, so you can call him tomo-”

“Natsuyaaaaa!” Ikuya grabs Natsuya’s wrist, tugging to get his brother’s attention. He looks up at Natsuya from under his hair, eyes wide and glittery and a little misty at the corners. “Stop being mean to Hiyori,” Ikuya says with the thickest, put-on pout Hiyori has ever seen. Ikuya suddenly looks all of five years old, and Natsuya falls for it hook, line, and sinker.

Hiyori distinctly hears Nao snicker, “Pathetic,” from behind his hand before Nao takes up Natsuya’s free hand and starts dragging him away. “Come on, you menace. I told you this was a bad idea. Now leave them alone.”

“But Ikuya’s virtue!” is the last thing Ikuya and Hiyori hear Natsuya say before Nao tugs him out of sight.

“He’s one to talk about virtue,” Ikuya says, his face dropping back into his normal expression, tinged with an impish little smirk. “Now, come on. Come inside and ‘ruin my virtue’.”

Laughing, Hiyori winds an arm around Ikuya’s waist. “Don’t mind if I do, baby.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and leave kudos!


End file.
